Imperial Propaganda

Words: 1881
Pages: 8

In the 15th and 16th century, the Habsburg dynasty used the Türkenschrift, the enemy image of the Ottomans, as an imperial propaganda to build up the power in the Holy Roman Empire. It was to reinforce the empire’s power and the spreading medium was the imprint of hostility of the Ottoman Empire. These propaganda medias emphasized the cruel conduct of the Ottomans, which in turn created fear and enhanced stronger social control within a country. There is a controversy whether the fear of Turk in the 15th and 16th century was due to the real threat or exaggerated by propaganda. Certainly, the Türkenschrift was the most important factor in the political propaganda of the Habsburg emperors. Revealing the correlation between the spread of the …show more content…
For Maximilian I, the Türkenschrift was one of the propaganda tool to gain political power. He was the first emperor who used printed images and writing as a means of propaganda for gaining his power after the invention of Gutenberg’s printing technique. Through these means of propagandas and pursuit of charismatic concept, Maximilian I sought to enhance the power of the nation and strengthen the control of the Christian world. He was a secular ruler and became the guardian of the Christian world; he stopped the Catholic church to have monopoly power in the Türkenschrift. Therefore, the initiative of propaganda was given to the emperor. From those propaganda images, Maximillian I tried to disclose his authority as a Roman emperor and his dignity as a Christian world guardian. He insisted the support and unity of the empire by emphasizing the Türkenschrift, but his real intention was elsewhere. The images and print media were the tools for his political purposes since the Türkenschrift acted as a great excuse for political propaganda. The prints during that era consistently described the Ottomans as very malicious and dangerous beings; this Türkenbild had become a fixed and common stereotype through the spread and production of the prints. Therefore, it eventually became a means to foster the resistance towards the Ottomans. The Habsburgs emperors even distributed pamphlets with Türkenbild to the parliament delegates, in order to persuade them to support the necessary resources for the Ottoman war. In addition, by using the idea of the Türkenschrift as an excuse, the empire had not only stabilized political and social order, but also forced obedience to imperial governments and administrative authorities. Through the use of